History

Enniscorthy Castle

Wexford town c. 1800.

The county is rich in evidence of early human habitation.[4]Portal tombs (sometimes called dolmens) exist at Ballybrittas (on Bree Hill)[5] and at Newbawn[6] — and date from the Neolithic period or earlier. Remains from the Bronze Age period are far more widespread.[4] Early Irish tribes formed the Kingdom of Uí Cheinnsealaig, an area that was slightly larger than the current County Wexford.

County Wexford was one of the earliest areas of Ireland to be Christianised, in the early 5th century. Later, from 819 onwards, the Vikings invaded and plundered many Christian sites in the county.[7] Vikings settled at Wexford town near the end of the 9th century.[7]

The native Irish began to regain some of their former territories in the 14th century, especially in the north of the county, principally under Art MacMurrough Kavanagh. Under Henry VIII, the great religious houses were dissolved, 1536–41; in County Wexford this included Glascarrig Priory, Clonmines Priory, Tintern Abbey, and Dunbrody Abbey.

On 23 October 1641, a major rebellion broke out in Ireland, and County Wexford produced strong support for Confederate Ireland. Oliver Cromwell and his English Parliamentarian Army arrived in 1649 in the county and captured it. The lands of the Irish and Anglo-Normans were confiscated and given to Cromwell's soldiers as payment for their service in the Parliamentarian Army. At Duncannon, in the south-west of the county, James II, after his defeat at the Battle of the Boyne, embarked for Kinsale and then to exile in France.

Geography and political subdivisions

Wexford is the 13th largest of Ireland's thirty-two counties in area, and 14th largest in terms of population.[11] It is the largest of Leinster's 12 counties in size, and fourth largest in terms of population. The county is located in the south-east corner of the island of Ireland. It is bounded by the sea on two sides—on the south by the Atlantic Ocean and on the east by St. George's Channel and the Irish Sea. The River Barrow forms its western boundary. The Blackstairs Mountains form part of the boundary to the north, as do the southern edges of the Wicklow Mountains. The adjoining counties are Waterford, Kilkenny, Carlow and Wicklow.

County Wexford is known as Ireland's "sunny southeast" because, in general, the number of hours of sunshine received daily is higher than in the rest of the country. This has resulted in Wexford becoming one of the most popular places in Ireland in which to reside. The county has a mild, but changeable, oceanic climate with few extremes. The North Atlantic Drift, a continuation of the Gulf Stream, moderates winter temperatures. There is a meteorological station located at Rosslare Harbour.[18] January and February are generally the coldest months, with temperatures ranging between 4–8 °C on average.[19] July and August are generally the warmest months, with temperatures ranging between 12–18 °C on average.[19] The prevailing winds are from the south-west.[20] Precipitation falls throughout the year. Mean Annual Rainfall is between 800–1200 mm.[21] Generally, the county receives less snow than more northerly parts of Ireland. Serious snowfalls are relatively rare, but can occur. The one exception is Mount Leinster, visible from a large portion of the county, which is frequently covered with snow during the winter months. Frost is frequent in winter months, less in coastal areas.

Mountains and hills

Largely low-lying fertile land is the characteristic landscape of the county. The highest point in the county is Mount Leinster (795 m,[22] 2610 ft) in the Blackstairs Mountains in the north-west on the boundary with County Carlow.

Other high points:

Black Rock Mountain, which is 599 m (1,965 ft) high. It is located near the Wexford-Carlow border, within County Wexford.

Rivers and lakes

The major rivers are the Slaney and the Barrow. At 192 km (119 mi) in length, the river Barrow is the second-longest river on the island of Ireland.[24] Smaller rivers of note are the Owenduff, Pollmounty, Corrock, Urrin, Boro, Owenavorragh, Sow and Bann rivers.

There are no significant fresh-water lakes in the county. Small seaside lakes or lagoons exist at two locations – one is called Lady's Island Lake and the other Tacumshin Lake.

The Wexford Cot is a flat bottomed boat used for fishing on the tidal mudflats in Wexford,[25] also a canoe shaped Punt fitted with a gun, called a Float in Wexford is used traditionally to shoot game birds in the North Slob mud flats.[26]

Islands

Soil

Most, but not all, of the county was covered with the ice sheet during the last Ice age. As the ice retreated, County Wexford would have been one of the first areas to be covered with glacial drift (a mixture of boulders, clay, sand and gravel) that blanketed the existing bedrock. This has led to high quality soils, suitable for a wide range of agriculture. A very detailed soil survey of the county was published in 1964, as part of the 'National Soil Survey of Ireland'. It classifies each area of the county according to its specific soil type.[27]

Most of the county is covered with soil called brown earths, described as well-drained and having a wide use range. After that, gleys (poorly to imperfectly drained with a limited use range) are the next major soil type, primarily located in the south-east of the county and east of Gorey (along the coast). Gleys are dotted elsewhere around the county in small areas, and where they occur they generally form bogland. The last major soil type is brown podzolics, located mainly near the edges of the Blackstairs Mountain range and around Bunclody and in the baronies of East Shelmalier and South Ballaghkeen. Though there are areas covered with other soil types, these are of limited extent.

Demographics

In 2016, the county had a total population of 149,722 people.[1] Of these, 61.4% (91,969 people) lived in rural areas and 38.6% (57,753 people) lived in urban areas.[32] 83.8% of the population stated their religion as Roman Catholic, 7.1% other religions and 7.5% stated they had no religion.[1] Between 2006 and 2011 the population increased by 10%, slowing to 3% between 2011 and 2016.[32]

Urban areas and populations

Culture

Since 1951, an opera festival, Wexford Festival Opera, takes place every year in the Theatre Royal in Wexford town and runs for several weeks.[33] A new Opera House has recently replaced the old one on the same site, it is now called Wexford Opera House. The new theatre opened in 2008 and consists of two theatres, the O'Reilly theatre and the Jerome Hynes theatre.

There is a renowned singing tradition in County Wexford. Having an abundance of traditional songs, many of which relate to the rebellion of 1798, the county has for many years had a strong presence in the Irish traditional singing scene. Noted singers include All-Ireland Fleadh ChampionsPaddy Berry, Seamus Brogan and Niall Wall. Paddy Berry has also collected and published a number of songs from Wexford.

Places of interest

Ballyteigue Burrow, located near Duncormick, is one of the finest protected sand dune systems in Ireland. Rich in wildflowers, wildlife and butterflies, this 9 km coastal stretch is a protected nature reserve by the golden sands of Ballyteigue Bay, with spectacular scenery.

Wexford strawberries are famous and can be bought in shops and wayside stalls throughout the summer. Every year, near the end of June, a 'Strawberry Fair' Festival takes place in the town of Enniscorthy, and a Strawberry Queen is crowned. Dairy farming forms an important part of the agricultural industry. Locally produced milk is on sale in many supermarkets. Wexford Irish Cheddar is an award-winning brand, and Carrigbyrne, a full-flavoured soft cheese, is produced near New Ross.

Forestry

Evergreen tree species are extensively cultivated, especially in more recent years—Norway spruce and Sitka spruce are the most common varieties planted. These are generally sown on poorer quality soils (mainly in bogs and on hills or mountainsides). A small amount of deciduous trees are also planted, though these require better soils.

Mining

Silver was once mined at Clonmines—primarily in Tudor times. Lead was mined at Caim, 1818 - c. 1850—this mine also contains zinc; the two are usually found together. Copper ore (malachite) is found at Kerloge, just south of the town of Wexford. Iron is found in small quantities at Courtown Harbour. The county is not noted for mineral reserves. No significant mining activity is currently practised, with the exception of quarrying for stone. In 2007, a significant oil find was made 60 kilometres off Hook Head in Co Wexford.[41]

Energy

Carnsore Point made the national headlines in the late 1970s after a proposal was made to build a nuclear energy plant there; the plans were abandoned after extensive protests from the public, due to environmental and health concerns.[42]
Great Island Power Station opened in 1967 and was operated by the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) until it was sold to Endesa in January 2009.[43] It is an electricity-generating station fueled by heavy fuel oil and rated at 240 MW.[44] It is located at the confluence of the rivers Barrow and Suir, near Campile. Before its sale, the station was scheduled to close by 2010.[45][46] Endesa propose building a 430 MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) gas fired plant on the site.[44] The project would need a new 44.5 km gas pipepline from the existing transmission network at Baunlusk, 6 km south of Kilkenny City.[47] A wind farm has now been built on the site, featuring 14 wind turbines generating electricity. It was completed in November 2002 and was the first wind farm on the east coast of Ireland. Wind farms now exist at a few other locations in the county, such as Ballywater Wind Farm, at Cahore (near Kilmuckridge), on the county's east coast, and Richfield wind farm, located in the southeast of the county.

Sport and events

Gaelic games

In recent years the county Football team has been making rapid advances. Camogie, a women's version of hurling, is also played, and Wexford won the All Ireland in 2007 and 2010. Wexford Park is the county's main GAA pitch, holding 25,000 supporters. Also, handball is played on a limited basis; there are a number of handball alleys located throughout the county.

In the All Ireland Senior Hurling Championships, Wexford have won 6 times, first in 1910 and most recently in 1996, beating Limerick in the final. After this momentous occasion a real banger of a choon was born. From that day forth there wasn't a night in the stores when 'Dancing at the crossroads' by the Wild Swans didn't ring out for 15 to mid 40 year olds to hear. A great day for the parish it was. Thank you George O'Connor. Amen.

Football

Golf

The colourful lodge at the entrance to Rathaspeck Manor golf course

There are numerous golf clubs in the county - including Rosslare (a Links course),[50] and Enniscorthy.[51] Two more are located near Gorey - Ballymoney Golf Club and Courtown Golf Club - are 18 hole golf courses.[52] Bunclody Golf and Fishing Club, boasting Europe's only golf lift, is situated just inside County Carlow.[53] There are also a few others. New Ross Golf Club, however, is actually located in County Kilkenny - about 1 km from New Ross town.[54]

There are also many par-3 courses in the county, such as Scarke Golf Course & Driving Range,[55] located about 2 km east of New Ross town, the 'Abbey Par 3' course, at Winningtown, Fethard-on-Sea, Blackwater Par 3 Golf Course,[56] Kilnew, Blackwater, located a few kilometres northeast of Wexford town, Garrylough Golf Course and Driving Range, Screen, and Rathaspeck Manor Golf Course, Rathaspeck, near Rosslare (there are also few Par-4 holes on this course). There are also a number of other Par-3 courses in the county.

Racing

Smallest Bookshop in Ireland

The Smallest Bookshop in Ireland is located in the South Wexford village of Bridgetown. Red Books was named the official Smallest Bookshop by the Irish Mirror in the Spring of 2018.
Red Books is known as a hotspot for thinkers, artists, readers, revolutionaries and misfits, and is a must see on a visit to County Wexford.
The shop is open everyday and is situated in a building which has housed everything from a secondary school classroom to a cattle shed to a military barracks.

^Herbert F. Hore (ed.), "A Chorographic Account of the Southern part of the County of Wexford, written Anno 1684, by Robert Leigh. Esq., of Rosegarland, in that County" in "The Journal of the Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society" (Dublin, 1859), p. 467.

External links

Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh (fl. 1630) was a 17th-century Irish language poet and harpist, who composed the song "Eileanóir a Rún".

Cearbhall was a common name amongst people of the Ó Dálaigh (O'Daly, Daly) surname, and more than one poet of that surname bore the name Cearbhall. The Cearbhall Óg who composed 'Eileanóir a Rún' was from Pallas, near Gorey in County Wexford. The Eileanóir of the poem was the daughter of Sir Morgan Kavanagh of Poll an Mhóintigh in County Wexford. In folklore Cearbhall is commonly depicted as a womanizer.

Gorey (Irish: Guaire) is a market town in north County Wexford, Ireland. It is beside the main M11 Dublin to Wexford road. The town is also connected to the railway network along the same route. Local newspapers include the Gorey Guardian and Gorey Echo.

Gorey is one hour drive from the southern outskirts of Dublin, connected to the capital via the N11/M11. As a commuter town, there has been an increase in population in the early 21st century. Between 1996 and 2002 the population rose by 44% in the town and by 23% in the surrounding district.

The N30 road is a national primary road in Ireland. It connects the N25 and N11 roads, providing a link running east-northeast through County Wexford, between New Ross and Enniscorthy. This provides for a more direct national route between the two towns, as the N25 and N11 both run to Wexford town, eastwards from New Ross and southwards from Enniscorthy respectively.

The N80 road is a national secondary road in Ireland that runs southeastwards from its junction with the N52 and R443 in the town of Tullamore in County Offaly, to the N11 at Ballynahallin, just north of Enniscorthy in County Wexford, a distance of 114.683 km. Total length is 114.683 km (71.261 mi).

New Ross (Irish: Ros Mhic Thriúin, formerly Ros Mhic Treoin) is a town in southwest County Wexford, Ireland. It is located on the River Barrow, near the border with County Kilkenny, and is around 20 km north east of Waterford. In 2016 it had a population of 8,040 people, making it the fourth-largest town in the county.

The R725 road is a regional road in Ireland. From its junction with the N80 on the western outskirts of Carlow Town it takes an easterly route to its junction with the N81 in Tullow, where it crosses the River Slaney on a bridge shared with the N80 in the town centre. It continues east to Shillelagh in County Wicklow, turns due south for 6 km, then eastwards through Carnew. It then enters County Wexford for the final 15 km stretch, terminating in Gorey at the R772.

The R729 road is a regional road in County Carlow and County Wexford in Ireland. It connects the R702 near Borris to the N30 near New Ross, 22.1 km (13.7 mi) to the south (map of route).The government legislation that defines the R729, the Roads Act 1993 (Classification of Regional Roads) Order 2012 (Statutory Instrument 54 of 2012), provides the following official description:

Borris, County Carlow — New Ross, County WexfordBetween its junction with R702 at Barmona in the county of Carlow and its junction with N30 at Macmurroughsisland in the county of Wexford via Coolnamara and Glynn in the county of Carlow: Pollmounty Bridge at the boundary between the county of Carlow and the county of Wexford: and Ballynabanoge in the county of Wexford.

The R730 road is a regional road in County Wexford, Ireland. From its junction with the R702 in Kiltealy it takes a southeasterly route to its junction with the R741 in the centre of Wexford Town, continuing south to Blackhorse to its junction on a roundabout with the N25 Wexford bypass.

The road has subsumed short sections of the N11 and N25 which formerly passed through Wexford Town, prior to the opening of the Wexford bypass. This section of the road also formed part of the former Trunk Road, T8.

The R731 road is a regional road in County Wexford, Ireland. From its junction with the R730 it takes a route along the southeasterly flank of the Blackstairs Mountains to its junction with the R729 north of New Ross, where it terminates.

En route it passes through the villages of Killann, Rathnure and Ballywilliam.

The R741 road is a regional road in County Wexford, Ireland. From its junction with the R772 in Gorey it takes a southerly route to its junction with the R730 in the centre of Wexford Town, where it terminates.

The road is of good quality, well surfaced and lined, throughout. It is used as an alternative route to the N11 national primary road for traffic between Gorey and Wexford Town.

In the vicinity of the R744 at Castle Ellis, the road is known locally as "the new line", constructed in the 1820s.

The traditional iconic view of Wexford Town is the bridge over the Slaney sweeping across in the foreground with the town behind it (for an example see [1]). The bridge is the final stage of R741 southwards.

The R742 road is a regional road in County Wexford, Ireland. From its junction with the R772 in Gorey it takes a southerly route to its junction with the R741 north of Wexford Town where it terminates.

Though the road passes through many popular seaside resorts and villages undergoing extensive growth, it remains virtually unchanged since it was first paved with long stretches of narrow, winding, unmarked and worn surfacing (as of 2007).

A regional road (Irish: bóthar réigiúnach) in Ireland is a class of road not forming a major route (such as a national primary road or national secondary road), but nevertheless forming a link in the national route network. There are over 11,600 kilometres of regional roads. Regional roads are numbered with three-digit route numbers, prefixed by "R" (e.g. R105).

The River Slaney (Irish: Abhainn na Sláine, meaning "river of health") is a large river in the southeast of Ireland. It rises on Lugnaquilla Mountain in the western Wicklow Mountains and flows west and then south through counties Wicklow, Carlow and Wexford for 117.5 km (73 mi), before entering St George's Channel in the Irish Sea at Wexford town. The estuary of the Slaney is wide and shallow and is known as Wexford Harbour. The catchment area of the River Slaney is 1,762 km2.

The long term average flow rate of the River Slaney is 37.4 Cubic Metres per second (m3/s)Towns that the Slaney runs through include Stratford-on-Slaney, Baltinglass, Tullow, Bunclody, Enniscorthy and Wexford. Over the river's 117 kilometre course, it is crossed by 32 road bridges and one railway bridge.

Wexford (Irish: Loch Garman) is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 National Primary Route; and to Rosslare Europort, Cork and Waterford by the N25. The national rail network connects it to Dublin and Rosslare Europort. It had a population of 20,188 according to the 2016 census.

Innovate Wexford Park is a GAA stadium in Wexford, Ireland. It is the home of Wexford GAA's Gaelic football and hurling teams. After a recent development the ground has a capacity of about 25,000.

It is located in the Clonard area on the outskirts of Wexford Town, and although the ground does not have floodlights it regularly hosts evening matches during the brighter summer months. In 2015 a local technology company, Innovate Business Technology, signed a deal for the naming rights to the stadium. The new name unveiled was Innovate Wexford Park.

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